My neighbor Bubba accidentally got his bodywash an' a bottle of "Doe in Heat" deer attractor mixed up. He was gettin' ready to mow down a field of picked cotton stalks the other mornin' when a eight-point buck comes runnin' outta the woods headin' straight for him. Well, he didn't have no gun with him, so he clumb up into the cab of that big ol' John Deere of his an' got the door shut just before that buck got to him. That deer was so pissed off that he throwed back his head and bellowed for three or four minutes, butted the tractor in the grill a couple of times, and then started humpin' that tractor's left rear tire just like Gluon goin' after Rapaire's leg. That went on for a couple of minutes until the buck seemed to have finished his business, after which he snorted, pissed on the ground, and walked back into the woods.

I asked Bubba how come he didn't just crank up the tractor an' run over the thing, an' he said he was just too dumbfounded to think of it. Well, I don't have too much trouble with that explanation bein' as how dumbfoundin' Bubba ain't much harder than fishin' with dynamite....

Oh, great! Now instead of just a "Poetry About Mudcat" thread, we can have a "Poetry About Little Hawk's Alter Egos" thread as well....

♫♫

Oh, stand up, Eddie Whatnoll! Stand up on your own! It's damned well disgusting How fat you have grown! Your girth is so wide It won't fit through the door! And if you stand up You might fall through the floor!

"I've got a mind that can't say "No" I'm in a turrible jam! I always say it must be so, That's just the way that I am! When most fellers dream up creatures weird They let it go and blamer it on the beer! But when I see a talking goldfish with a beard I tell the world it's real and it is here! I caaaan't saaaaay nooooooo!"

We are often described by those whose DNA we sample as "talking goldfish with beards." We have not yet sampled the DNA of this creature you call "Amos" or "A Muss." Please provide his location so that we may do so. As you might know, we do not like the unsampled to recognize us and we must deal with this "A Mess."

Using atoms at temperatures colder than deep space, Rice University physicists have delivered overwhelming proof for a once-scoffed-at theory that's become a hotbed for research some 40 years after it first appeared. In a paper available online in Science Express, Rice's team offers experimental evidence for a universal quantum mechanism that allows trios of particles to appear and reappear at higher energy levels in an infinite progression. The triplets, often called trimers, form in special cases where pairs cannot.

"It's such a remarkable phenomena," said team leader Randy Hulet. "There are examples, like the Borromean rings, where having a third component is crucial. Any two of the rings will unbind if the third is removed, and these trimers are similar. The particles want to bind, but no two can do it. They need the third one to make it happen."

The trimers were first predicted almost 40 years ago by theoretical physicist Vitaly Efimov. The most striking feature of Efimov's prediction was that the effect was both universal and repeating. That meant that the trimers could form from anything, be it as large as an atom or as small as a quark. And it also meant that Efimov's trimers would form repeatedly, up and down the energy scale in a stepwise fashion. Efimov, now at the University of Washington, even predicted the spacing in energy of the trimers; he said they would appear every time the binding energy increased by a factor of 22.7. "A lot of people didn't believe him," said Hulet, Rice's Fayez Sarofim Professor of Physics and Astronomy. "That's partly because physicists can handle two-body problems quite well and many-body problems fairly well, but when there are just a few objects, like the three bodies in these Efimov trimers, there are just too many variables."

The above, from Phys.Org's news feed, is a wonderful breakthrough. It explains MOAB. Well, 92,5 per cent of it, anyway.

ScienceDaily (Dec. 11, 2009) — The gases which formed the Earth's atmosphere -- and probably its oceans -- did not come from inside the Earth but from outer space, according to a study by University of Manchester and University of Houston scientists.

The report published in the journal Science means that textbook images of ancient Earth with huge volcanoes spewing gas into the atmosphere will have to be rethought.

According to the team, the age-old view that volcanoes were the source of the Earth's earliest atmosphere must be put to rest.

Using world-leading analytical techniques, the team of Dr Greg Holland, Dr Martin Cassidy and Professor Chris Ballentine tested volcanic gases to uncover the new evidence.

The research was funded by Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

"We found a clear meteorite signature in volcanic gases," said Dr Greg Holland the project's lead scientist.

"From that we now know that the volcanic gases could not have contributed in any significant way to the Earth's atmosphere.

"Therefore the atmosphere and oceans must have come from somewhere else, possibly from a late bombardment of gas and water rich materials similar to comets.

"Until now, no one has had instruments capable of looking for these subtle signatures in samples from inside the Earth -- but now we can do exactly that."

The techniques enabled the team to measure tiny quantities of the unreactive volcanic trace gases Krypton and Xenon, which revealed an isotopic 'fingerprint' matching that of meteorites which is different from that of 'solar' gases.

The study is also the first to establish the precise composition of the Krypton present in the Earth's mantle.

Project director Prof Chris Ballentine of The University of Manchester, said: "Many people have seen artist's impressions of the primordial Earth with huge volcanoes in the background spewing gas to form the atmosphere.

According to an article appearing today in Zeitung fur Physiologik und Abführmittel, scientists at Heidelberg University have discovered that 90%+ of the atmospheric methane present in today's atmosphere has been emitted within the last ten years. The source of the largest emitter is, according to Professor Dietrich Rosen of the Department of Abführmittel, "is somewhere in Southern Ohio of the United States."

Satellite studies confirm the hypothesis, which Dr. Rosen began work upon in 2002. In the past, says Dr. Rosen, studies have blamed "everything from the cow farts to factories."

Working with a grant from the German government and the European Space Agency, Dr. Rosen and his team expect to pinpoint the exact location of the emitter within the next few months.

These last two benefits may only apply to cows but lowering emissions is important for the environment, as methane given off by farm animals is a major contribution to greenhouse gas levels. Researchers from University College Dublin reported that by including 2% fish oil in the diet of cattle, they achieved a reduction in the amount of methane released by the animals.

Speaking at the Society for General Microbiology meeting in Harrogate March 30, Dr Lorraine Lillis, one of the researchers, said, "The fish oil affects the methane-producing bacteria in the rumen part of the cow's gut, leading to reduced emissions. Understanding which microbial species are particularly influenced by changes in diet and relating them to methane production could bring about a more targeted approach to reducing methane emissions in animals."

More than a third of all methane emissions, around 900 billion tonnes every year, are produced by methanogen bacteria that live in the digestive systems of ruminants such as cattle, sheep and goats. By volume, methane is 20 times more powerful at trapping solar energy than carbon dioxide making it a potent greenhouse gas.

Approximately 50% of Irish agricultural methane emissions result from farm animals; there have been suggestions that, to help combat global warming, a cap be placed on the number of animals in animal production due to their methane production but with a reduction in methane levels through diet this may not be as necessary.

I thought the idea of Santa CLaus being driven out of business because of cap and trade was really funny. But my wife disagreed. She said the funniness of it was so mildly funny it was toxic. I guess I can see her point, though.,

Actually, that was post #33092. Ed beat me to 33091. That's okay 'cause 33092 is the Zip Code for Homestead, Florida. I've been there once. Some co-workers and I ate Mexican food. It was good, but not great. But you know what? I've eaten a lot of Mexican food and it's ALWAYS good, but not great.

You know what else? No matter what you order at a Mexican restaurant, while you're waiting for your order to arrive, someone else's order will come out first and you'll look at their food and go, "Damn! That looks good! Wish I had ordered that! What the fuck is it?"

In the truth of the golden heart of true BS One will never see "http" Because part of the magic is when you say, "This is MY BS, written by me". This is because while others may Make arguments about the singing of horses, Mom's children know, whate'er they say, They say it recognizing sources. ANd sources who do honestly confess, Can be counted on for True BS.

Hey, Amos! Get up, you sluggard. Day has broken (sort of...well, actually I don't think the sun will be up for another 45 minutes or so...), and the most optimistic birdies are singing to the approaching dawn.

Amos is living in the past again, I see. Sad...such a mind living 10,000 posts past. He'll be using buttonhooks to fasten his spats before he puts on his derby to stroll out, walking stick in hand, to stroll down the boulevard to his club. And the same policeman will again arrest him, for spats, derby, and walking stick do not constitute strolling dress even in San Diego.